(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis was scheduled on Thursday to visit Jasna Góra Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland, to celebrate a Mass commemorating the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland.The Monastery is the location of the famous icon, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. There is a legend the image was made by St. Luke, and the icon has become a symbol of Poland, and revered especially by the Polish diaspora around the world.The Monastery is home to the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit, or the Pauline Fathers.“The icon, the blessed Madonna, is venerated not only by the Polish people, but the faithful from all the world, which was many times highlighted by John Paul II, it is still a recognizable sign of the Polish people living in many places around the world,” explained the Father General of the Order, Fr. Arnold Chrapkowski, OSPPE.Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Fr. Arnold Chrapkowski, OSPPE: This international outreach has had an eff...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis was scheduled on Thursday to visit Jasna Góra Monastery in Czestochowa, Poland, to celebrate a Mass commemorating the 1050th anniversary of the Baptism of Poland.
The Monastery is the location of the famous icon, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa. There is a legend the image was made by St. Luke, and the icon has become a symbol of Poland, and revered especially by the Polish diaspora around the world.
The Monastery is home to the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit, or the Pauline Fathers.
“The icon, the blessed Madonna, is venerated not only by the Polish people, but the faithful from all the world, which was many times highlighted by John Paul II, it is still a recognizable sign of the Polish people living in many places around the world,” explained the Father General of the Order, Fr. Arnold Chrapkowski, OSPPE.
Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Fr. Arnold Chrapkowski, OSPPE:
This international outreach has had an effect on the Order, as the Black Madonna has inspired vocations around the world.
“For me, the Black Madonna came also in South Africa, brought by the Trappists,” – said Fr. David Dlamini, OSPPE – “It was 1885, but it was not so popular – the picture of Our Lady – until the Pauline Fathers came in 1991…So for us, she is our mother.”
Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Fr. David Dlamini, OSPPE:
Pauline Brother Jeremy Santoso, who is preparing for the priesthood, comes from Australia.
“I remember the first time being here in Poland when I was a postulant entering into the novitiate, and my impression of Jasna Góra was remarkable because of how big the monastery is, and the amount of people walking around…I was impressed with their devotion and faith,” Br. Jeremy told Vatican Radio.
Listen to the interview by Lydia O’Kane with Br. Jeremy Santoso, OSPPE:
“It was so beautiful to witness such a thing, it slowly motivated, inspired me, to love the country all the more,” he said.
Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that "a negotiated peace is better than an endless war."CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O'Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff's residence in the Vatican.During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.O'Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: "Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an e...
An aerial view of Washington Square in San Francisco on May 22, 2020. / Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty ImagesCNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).San Francisco police arrested a homeless man last Sunday for allegedly stabbing a parent from a nearby Catholic school after an altercation involving the two outside a historic Catholic church in the city. Twenty-five-year-old Marko Asaulyuk of San Francisco was charged with attempted murder and eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon.The Catholic school father, who was released from the hospital Sunday, only suffered a minor injury to his leg, Father Tho Bui, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, told CNA Thursday in an email.San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was conferring the sacrament of confirmation on the parish school's students and students from a nearby parish during a noon Mass when a "disruptive man" entered the church, as Bui described him.The man was walking up and down the main aisle of the ...
The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)Toronto, Canada, Apr 25, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).The International Pro-Life Flag will not fly over Toronto Catholic schools this May.Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustees voted against an April 23 motion proposed by trustee Michael Del Grande that the pro-life flag fly outside all schools and the Catholic Education Centre during the month of May, just as the board voted to fly the Pride flag in June.Del Grande's motion was defeated at the April 23 board meeting when only Garry Tanuan supported Del Grande's motion. The eight other board members in attendance and the two student trustees opposed his proposal.Though Del Grande could not muster enough backing from his colleagues, his plan, which would have also directed all TCDSB schools to teach an exclusively pro-life curriculum on May 9, the day of the National March for Life, garnered bois...